This impressive photograph I received from my cousin Michael Boutrous recently. It is a gorgeous photograph of his Grandfather Ghattas 'Attas' Fares Boutrous (in the back) in 1910. This is a marriage photograph taken with his sister, Salma (16 years old) and the groom, Mikhail 'Mike' Bashara (22 years old) in Sioux City, Iowa.

Ghattas emigrated to America in 1899 and Salma in 1909, both as children, from Lebanon. Mike was born in Lebanon on January 23rd, 1888, and also emigrated when he was just a child.

Mike and Salma (Boutrous) Bashara ran a confectionery store in Sioux City for years. Salma passed away in 1943 in Sioux City. Afterward, Mike moved to Lincoln, Nebraska and became the head janitor at the University of Nebraska. Mike retired in 1958 and passed in 1971 in Sioux City, Iowa.

The second photograph below of Attas and his wife Della (Nassif) Boutrous shown here on their wedding day on September 19th, 1910 also in Sioux City. Both were born in Ain Arab, Lebanon, Syria on February 12th, 1882 & February 17th, 1892 respectively. Attas and Della had eight children; three daughters and five sons.

The Boutrous Family photograph taken in 1940 is also below:

left to right - top row:
James (Jimmy), my uncle Floyd (husband of my aunt Dian Marcella Erickson), Thomas (Tom), George and Theodore (Ted) Boutrous

left to right - bottom row:
Sylvia (Trent), Lorna (Michaelson), Della, Attas, and Florence 'Flossy' (Nemer) Boutrous

Attas called the boys his "steps" as they went from tallest to shortest in a complete natural order. Shortly after this photo was taken, three of the boys went off to serve in the war in Europe and never saw their father Attas again, as he passed away in January of 1944.

The family first opened 'The Fair Store' in 1917 and then the Boutrous Family 'Corner Grocery' was opened on January 1st, 1929. The family acquired real estate in the area and were a well respected family in Bismarck. Attas and Della ran the 'Corner Grocery' until he passed in Bismarck on January 12th, 1944. Della passed away on June 30th 1985 in Bismarck.

The Boutrous, Nassif and Nicola families were a very tight unit, having all been born in Ain Arab, Lebanon and many having grown up together. Many of the family members first came to America in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. When her time came, Della, at the time only 15 years old, along with two cousins, began their journey in Ain Arab and traveled to Beirut. From there, the trio were off on a trans-Atlantic steamer to Mexico.

On July 13th, 1907 from the municipality of Zaragoza, in the state of Coahuila in north-eastern Mexico, Della and her cousins crossed the border into the United States. They passed through customs in Eagle Pass, Texas and looked northward, toward where she would inevitably be heading. Della would be traveling to reunite with her father, Jirji 'George' at the family homestead in Sheridan County, North Dakota, near Denhoff. Speaking no English, Della made her way by train to the Great Northern Plains with a piece of paper that had only the words 'Denhoff, North Dakota' written on it.